Old Barn, Spring Creek Ranch Golf Club...and a favor...

Thanks to those of you who wrote me for such a warm welcome back! I have a new job which takes a bit of time each week, but I hope to be blogging as regularly as possible. I enjoy sharing the Memphis area with you, and I'm glad that you enjoy seeing it, too!

Spring Creek Ranch Golf Club, which was designed by Jack Nicklaus, was formerly a cattle ranch by the same name. Some of the recently-developed residential streets surrounding the club are named after the bulls that resided here when it was ranch land. This is one of the old barns remaining on the Spring Creek Ranch property, and I'm not sure that preserving the barn structures is on their long-term plan. I wanted to have a photo to serve as a record of this property's history, and I thought that the barn looked especially pretty with the goldenrod (and ragweed...achoo!) in full bloom.

And now for the favor! Do any of you have any photos of the artists' life-size horses that have been around the Germantown area since the Germantown Charity Horse Show? We came back from the MS State/Vanderbilt football game tonight and passed through Germantown, and they're gone! We were going to take photos of them on Sunday and Tuesday this week, when we had some extra time to visit each site, and share them here. SO disappointing! If any of you have photos (of the horses, of anything else in the Memphis area) that you'd like to share here, I'd be glad to post them and credit you for the photo. If you do, please leave a message here. Thanks!

Goldenrod, Spring Creek Ranch

Goldenrod found blooming this past week on the naturalized property of Spring Creek Ranch Golf Club on Collierville-Arlington Road. Yes, I know that some consider it to be a weed, at best a wildflower...but no matter its classification, it's an awfully pretty one!

Magnolia Blossom Time

This has always been one of my favorite times of the year in Memphis. This is the season when everything is so green, it's still not too humid and hot to get out in the middle of the day, school is just about to get out for the summer, and the magnolias are in bloom. Aaaahhhh...

My father and I took a ride through some of his favorite areas of town today, and we stopped for a little while in Chickasaw Gardens. A visitor left a message a week or so ago speaking of missing the magnolias, especially the ones surrounding Chickasaw Gardens Lake and lining some of the streets in that area (this photo was taken with you in mind). We found this magnolia bloom on a tree just by the lake in early afternoon, and we thought that the lighting was perfect. I wish that you could smell this flower; it's a sweet, lemony scent that's unmistakeable, and smells heavenly when there is a warm breeze.

A bit under the weather...but at least there are pretty garden photos to share!

Hello! I've been away from the computer for several days, so I figured I owed you a few photos in this post. This is the Tennessee Bicentennial Iris Garden at the Memphis Botanic Garden. It was the first garden at the Memphis Botanical Garden, and the plantings are primarily the results of donations from the personal collection of a Memphis family. The sculpture in the center of the fountain is the Iris Goddess (first photo above). Most of these irises bloom in mid-to-late April, but some also bloom in late autumn.

Chris left me a message asking if I'm ok...thanks so much for thinking of me, Chris! Actually, I have been under the weather healthwise. During a routine health screening, my blood pressure was abnormally high (family curse, I think), and we've been working this week on adjusting medications, etc, for that. Right now, it's actually too low, which saps every bit of energy you have. Not whining here...I'm very thankful that it's a fairly easily controlled condition. I just wanted to let you know why I may be a bit hit-n-miss with posting or visiting for a short time.

I hope that everything is wonderful with you!

Iris Bloom

My father and I visited the Memphis Botanic Garden last week, and were delighted to find the iris garden in full bloom. The Iris Garden is quite large, and centered around a fountain with a gorgeous statue in the middle. I will try to share a few photos of this beautiful spot in the next few days.

Water Lily

Water Lily, Memphis Botanic Garden.

Some day soon I'll show you other places around town, but this time of year our area gardens are just too pretty to ignore.

White Clematis...

Clematis vine, Dixon Gardens.

Garden Visitor

When my father was visiting the other day, he noticed this beautiful visitor to my garden...thank goodness my camera was right inside the door (and that my daddy has an eye for detail)! Isn't he pretty?

I hope that you're enjoying a pretty Spring where you live, and are having a great weekend.

Walkways, Dixon Gardens

Walkways at Dixon are one of the most important elements in the gardens. Not only do they make walking easier around the perimeter of the South Lawn (especially in inclement weather), but they also beckon you to each separate garden room and little hidden places featuring seasonal plantings, an antique bench, or statuary. Some walks are curved and some are straight, and usually are constructed of brick or pea gravel.

Above and below are the terraced brick walkways joining the first garden room I showed you, and the one I will share after this. In the photo above you can see the restored, 19th century cast iron fountain that is the focal point in the distance (please enlarge this photo for a better view).

I hope that you are enjoying a nice weekend. We are spending time with my father today, and then I'm looking forward to catching up with each of you.

Dixon Gardens, South Lawn

This is the first view of the expansive South Lawn of the gardens that you see after you first enter the gardens from the main entrance. My father says that it reminds him of Augusta National Golf Club during the Masters Tournament.

Formal Garden Room, Dixon Gardens (100th Post)

Yesterday, my father took me to Dixon Gallery and Gardens in celebration of my birthday (you can also read more about Dixon here).. You know how some days are just "perfect", and you know that you will remember that day as special forever? Yesterday was one of those days. It was a mild day, perfectly clear and sunny, and probably the prettiest Spring day in Memphis this year. My father and I walked the entire perimeter of the 17 acres of garden area, and it was breathtaking, and fun to just spend an afternoon with my father.

Of course, I took too many photos (don't we all?), and have chosen my favorites to share with you over the next several days. I hope that you will come to love this special place as I do. It is truly wonderful any time of year, either for its blooms, lush grounds, or well-designed architectural beauty. But, during the first through third weeks in April, it will take your breath away. You may enjoy seeing the larger version of this photo...just click on the photo and then click on "all sizes" and choose the larger size.

This is one of the formal garden rooms, fashioned after French and Italian formal gardens, on the east side of the museum building. This area is planted in clipped boxwood, pink azaleas, an ivy border, and white dogwoods. It is this lush in color in person, and it was lovely sitting on that bench and just taking it in.

Today is my 100th post, and it is hard to believe how quickly that time has passed. Participating in this community is a highlight of each day, and I hope to have many more "anniversaries".

Wysteria

The wysteria peaked this past weekend, and has been just beautiful! This was one of my mother's favorite spring blooms (she loved anything purple), and we always had fun looking for it to bloom each year.

If you've never smelled wysteria before, it is just heavenly. The aroma reminds me a lot of lilacs, which don't grow too well in our area. Wysteria only blooms for a bit over a week, but it is always such a delight.

Pink Azalea

I thought you might enjoy seeing a pretty pink azalea after the pink dogwood yesterday....click to change the size to a larger photo to see even more detail (by clicking on "all sizes" and then choosing the larger size) . We found this beauty at Dixon Gallery & Gardens last weekend. I'm hoping that the azaleas may be fully-blossomed this weekend.

The past few days have been long workdays, and I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone tonight and tomorrow!

Pink Dogwood

I took this photo in our garden yesterday. When you really study them, dogwood flowers look almost like delicate sculpture, don't they?

Can you see the little fellow on the back of one of the petals? I didn't notice him until I viewed the photo on the largest size on Flickr. Feel free to click on the photo and view it in the larger size in my Flickr account if you would like a closer view.

Are you having a good week so far? This weekend is supposed to be sunny and in the 60s after some stormy weather tomorrow...perfect photo weather, don't you think? What are your weekend plans?

Sunny Yellow Tulips...

At the Botanic Garden, I couldn't look at these without smiling! I hope that they bring a smile to your face, too!

Happy Spring!

Flowering Dogwood...

Isn't this dogwood magnificent? This is one of my favorite flowering trees during each Spring in Memphis.

I hope that you're having a great weekend so far. This is a busy one for us with family activities, but I am looking forward to taking a little time for some blog-visiting, too!

Cherry Trees In All Their Glory

The cherry trees in full blossom just outside of the Memphis Botanic Garden...it doesn't get much prettier than this! (Be sure to click on this one to see the entire width of the photo).

Sunny Forsythia

Isn't Forsythia a day-brightener? Ours are almost past peak here, and I wanted to share this with you before the time passes. I'm glad that we took quite a few Spring photos previously, as this weekend was rainy, rainy.

I hope that your weekend was a good one!

More Tulips

These tulips at the Memphis Botanic Garden were almost done, but I thought this color combination was especially pretty. I know that a lot of you north of me are still seeing some wintry weather, but I will certainly be enjoying your pretty Spring when it's already hot, hot, hot here in the South. My mother and grandmother used to say "it's as hot as blue blazes" during the summer; have you ever heard that phrase?

Cherry Blossoms...

I'm so glad that you're enjoying the spring blooms in Memphis with me. Our Spring is usually about two weeks, with an almost direct jump from Winter to Summer, and the season is seeming particularly nice and leisurely this year.

The Cherry blossoms are almost at peak, and should be just gorgeous by this weekend. We are supposed to have rain during the next few days, so I hope that the blossoms will weather that well (if not, I have a great photo of the trees at peak from last Spring). These trees line the public drive along Audubon Golf Course in front of the Botanic Garden, so if you are in Memphis and want to see them in person, you can just drive through...but the Botanic Garden is a great place to visit if you have time.